Stimulating The Economy

The 2012 Presidential race is reaching fever pitch.   Both the Republican and Democratic candidates agree that our economy is in the toilet, but neither Romney or Obama seem to be able to communicate exactly what plans they have for economic recovery.  More government, less government, and the grey area in between don't leave any of us in the middle class tremendously optimistic about the future.

The fact is, that despite all of their experience in business or politics, most citizens are fearful that any great idea for economic growth will die on the vine or become the victim of bi-partisan immovability.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to first take a look at the state of the economy, admit some hard to swallow truths and then take action to move forward.  Many of us struggling to maintain our status in the middle class discuss these issues with our family, friends, and neighbors in our community.  It's difficult to understand why the ideas that spring from our conversations have never been previously considered or implemented.  

In this blog post, I will attempt to lay out some of the ideas that spring from the work place and the dining room tables across America.  Agree or disagree with them, but admit that at least our thinking caps are in place.

1.  In order to spend money to stimulate the economy, middle class pockets need to contain more than laundry lint.  It's impossible to buy goods or purchase services if you are barely able to pay the bills or put food on the table.  American banks received billions of dollars in bail out cash, but not one dollar was spent to bail out the millions of Americans who lost their homes, their jobs, and many of their hopes for the future.  One good idea may be the initiation of a state lottery program, administrated by the Federal Government and named,"Free Mortgage Money."

Instead of picking a series of numbers, Lottery players would purchase a $2.00 ticket that would be fed into a computer.  The paid ticket would entitle its holder to enter their names, address and amount of mortgage debt into the "Free Mortgage" computer.  At the end of each week, for every two million dollars played, one million would be paid to the state coffers and one million dollars would be used to pay off up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the winners mortgage debt.  The computers would be set to randomly pick the names of the winners and calculate how many winners would benefit each week, depending on the money owed by the winner and the amount of money collected in lottery play.

The technology would be simple to implement and winners names and addresses could be posted on a web-site each week.  The winners would report to their local lottery office where administrators could assist them in transferring funds directly to the institution holding their mortgage debt.  Perhaps we could use some of the thousands of brilliant law graduates who have passed the bar and remain unable to find a job in their field to administrate this process.    

All parties benefit from such a program:  states get a weekly infusion of funds, the mortgage winner now has the funds to purchase more goods and services, and even the banks who seem to require your first born child before they give you anything, could use the cash infusions to create new mortgage money or to offer low interest loans.  Law school graduates could finally move out of their parents basement, gain work force experience, and have a salary to pay back some of their enormous school loans.


2.   In most of the Northeastern states, property and school taxes are beyond belief.  My own taxes are close to ten thousand dollars a year and most of my neighbors question just what we are getting for our money.  Certainly in other parts of our country there is garbage collection and snow removal for less than ten grand a year.  Our roads in New York are filled with potholes and many of our public and parochial schools are using desks from the 1950's.  For the most part, our homes are modest and many of us have a lot that measures 40 by 100, so its not like we are paying for an estate that holds our collection of Arabian ponies.  If you have ever traveled to other parts of our country and looked at the sizes of homes and lots, you have no doubt shaken your head in disbelief when you become aware that you are paying double or triple the taxes of your fellow citizens.

Yes, wages may be higher in the Northeast and job opportunities more plentiful, but the disparity between salaries and the prices of homes in our neighborhoods are not what they used to be when our parents moved from the cities to suburbia.  For those of us whose kids are grown and gone from the nest, enormous school taxes are especially hard to swallow.

Perhaps it might be more equitable to offer a tax rebate or reduction to homeowners whose children are no longer enrolled in the school system.  A 50% reduction in school taxes for these families seems fair and solves an even larger problem.  Currently those who rent in a community are exempt from payment of school taxes.  This includes those who are not yet citizens, or are in the country illegally, as well as those who are not home owners.  If your children are registered to attend schools in the community, you should be responsible to shoulder some of the costs of their education, despite the fact that you do not own property.  

3.   Those currently unemployed for more than six months should be required to perform some form of community service in order to receive a weekly check.  This should also be true for those who collect welfare and are not caring for young children or a sick family member.   Teachers can offer tutoring or mentoring services for schools in their community.  Those in the legal field, who have lost their jobs, or who cannot find a job, can provide free assistance for a certain number of hours each week for those citizens who require and may not be able to afford such services privately.

We have seen the large number of individuals who turn out each winter to clear snow from stadiums or streets.  Thousands have shown up for these jobs to earn $12.00 an hour.  With our employment rate holding steady at 8%, why can't we create jobs for individuals to shovel snow for seniors who register in advance for these services at their local town halls.  In spring and summer, these same individuals can be trained to make street repairs or to clean and refurbish our parks, many of which are unfit for use by the community.   This is certainly a solution to work for welfare and does not cost the Federal or local governments additional funds.

Construction companies who have suffered from a lack of projects due to the economy could receive a government grant to rebuild and refurbish the large number of abandoned buildings that are found in and around the New York area and other parts of the country. Thousands of new jobs would be created  and these buildings could be turned into low cost housing so that none of our citizens are forced to live in the cars or on the streets of our nation.

All such buildings should be manned by adequate security forces such as those that are utilized by the tonier apartments in our cities.  This would avoid the influx of drugs or destruction of property that caused the abandonment of these buildings in the first place.

Adequate security forces for such projects would provide jobs for returning veterans or for those who have received security training and continue to seek elusive employment.

Small businesses would spring up to serve the needs of these communities and the community would continue to develop and grow.

4.  Years ago, I purchased clothes made in the United States that I was able to wear for years.  Today, our country makes absolutely nothing.  Even Calvin or Anne Klein can't seem to make their apparel lines outside of Malaysia or China!  The goods we now purchase are often substandard and you are lucky to make it through one season with the clothes produced overseas.  Perhaps, we are not purchasing consumer items because our stores are stocked with inferior goods.

Many of the communities in our country have hundreds of empty storefronts representing the efforts of small business to compete with the foreign countries that now produce everything from our underwear to our toaster ovens, electronics and automobiles.

Our Federal government needs to sponsor a new program called: "Made in the USA."  The abandoned storefronts in our neighborhoods could be turned into shops where we start producing at least our own clothing again.  As a child, I watched my grandmother proudly work for the ILGWU and produce some of the most well made and affordable clothing offered for consumers in the United States.  Even if we started with a small storefront and some knitting machines, subsidized by state or Federal dollars,  certainly we could produce sweaters that American consumers would be proud to purchase and wear.  Let's utilize the same expertise that made the ILGWU such a great organization.  With so many unemployed, I can predict that thousands would show up for the opportunity to either practice their skills or be trained to produce quality goods.  Wages could start off on the lower end with the chance for those employed in these businesses to eventually own the business or at least share in the profits.  Stores that agree to display American made sweaters would receive an tax break for showing these items in their stores and keeping their prices competitive.

In order for us to succeed as a country, we need to stop the massive import of foreign made goods.

5.  Instead of tolerating the insane costs of heating oil or electricity, lets provide our citizens with the tools to convert part or all of their homes to solar efficient dwellings.  Today, it costs about thirty thousand dollars to install the equipment needed to harness solar energy, a cost too prohibitive for most citizens in these trying economic times.  If we want our citizens to spend money to stimulate the economy, why don't we provide them with the tools to save on the high cost of monthly energy use.  It cannot be that difficult to train employees to install such systems, creating not only new jobs in the industry but significant savings to American consumers.  Perhaps our leaders need to start with a program that is possible, instead of the loftier plans proposed each year and yet here we are, still dependent on foreign energy sources.

Solar energy would also allow us to utilize cars that are not dependent on gasoline.  Right now the cost of plugging in your car every evening would force most of us to work three jobs just to pay our electric bills.  Buying an electric car is just not an option that we could afford to adopt without solar energy to defray the cost.  Let's keep it simple people and create jobs that would allow citizens of the United States to profit from their creation.

If we calling our citizens to action and making promises that we will give them access to the American dream, we need to have the kind of leadership that spends money on programs that will allow us to grow and prosper.  If we can afford to bail out the banks, the automobile industry, and finance wars that cost us billions of dollars and thousands of American lives, perhaps we can provide our citizens with some simple solutions.